ARLINGTON, Virginia—Knowland, a provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, released monthly meetings and events data for August. The numbers reveal that August U.S. group meetings volume increased 25.5 percent over July 2021.
The Top 25 Markets continue to dominate the growth metrics for the number of meetings. This is a strong performance indicator, as earlier in the year growth was led by the secondary and tertiary markets.
- Average attendees increase over 2019—The average number of attendees per event in August 2021 was 68, compared to 61 in August 2019.
- Average space used—The average space used in August 2021 was 2,490 square feet while meetings in August 2019 averaged 2,216 square feet. While the square footage was higher in August 2021 than in August 2019, the average space per attendee is the same. This is the first time that this metric has been seen since the start of the pandemic.
- Top five market growth—The top five growth markets in August were Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
- Corporate meetings represent the largest market segment—The corporate segment represents 60.8 percent of meeting and event business with the healthcare and technology segments taking the lead as the largest industry segments.
Kristi White, chief product officer, Knowland, said, “August was a surprising month. With all the news about the Delta variant, we anticipated there would be a drop in meetings this month. However, the opposite occurred; not only was there growth, but it was higher than the prior month. Additionally, we saw the Top 25 Markets continue their dominance as the biggest growth markets. The Top 25 Markets are key to the overall rebound of the U.S. market. Hopefully, this trend will continue in the coming months.”
